Earthquake hits south Asia

A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake near the Pakistan-India border today has reduced villages to rubble, triggered landslides and flattened an apartment building, killing more than 3,000 people in both nations. The dead included 250 girls who were crushed by rubble when their school collapsed, and 200 soldiers on duty in Kashmir.

In the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute, and panicked people ran from their homes and offices. Communications throughout the region were cut.

For hours, aftershocks from the 7.6-magnitude quake rippled across the region as rescue teams struggled to clear piles of debris in the search for survivors. Hospitals evacuated victims onto their lawns, fearing that tremors could cause more damage.

About 1,000 people died in Pakistani Kashmir, said Sardar Mohammed Anwar, the top government official in the area.

"This is my conservative guess, and the death toll could be much higher," Anwar told Pakistan's Aaj television station. He said most homes in Muzaffarabad, the area's capital, were damaged, and schools and hospitals collapsed.

About 860 people died in northwestern Pakistan, said Malik Zafar Azam, a senior provincial Cabinet minister.

Ataullah Khan Wazir, police chief in the northwestern district of Mansehra, said authorities there pulled the bodies of 250 students from a girls' school that collapsed.

"This tragic incident happened in Ghari Habibibullah," a district village, he said. About 500 students were injured, he said.

Offers of assistance have already come from Turkey, where the Red Crescent is preparing to send military planes loaded with supplies and relief teams to Pakistan, and the UK.

Foreign secretary Jack Straw said he was "very distressed" on hearing of the earthquake. "My anxieties are all the greater because so many British people of Pakistani heritage come from the area affected or have relatives who live there," he said. "We are offering help to the Pakistani Government and are ready to respond to all requests. So far we have no reports of any British deaths."

Air force and army personnel helped civilian authorities rescue people trapped under buildings. Telephone lines were down. Bridges had developed cracks, but traffic was passing over them.

At least 100 people died in Mansehra district in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, and 70 percent of mud-brick homes in quake-hit areas collapsed, said Asif Iqbal, the provincial information minister. Casualty tolls from other districts were being compiled.

In eastern Afghanistan, an 11-year-old girl was crushed to death when a wall in her home collapsed, said police official Gafar Khan.

A 10-story apartment building, part of the upscale Margallah Towers complex in Islamabad collapsed and dozens of people were feared trapped in the rubble. Rescuers pulled out at least 20 injured people. Some residents were Westerners and Central Asians, a building employee said.

A man named Rehmatullah who lived nearby said he saw clouds of dust from his bathroom window.

"I rushed down, and for some time you could not see anything because of the dust. Then we began to look for people in the rubble," said Rehmatullah, who only gave one name. "We pulled out one man by cutting off his legs."

"It was like hell," said Nauman Ali, who lived in a nearby top-floor apartment. "It was terrible. I was tossed up in my bed and the ceiling fan struck against the roof."

Aided by two large cranes, hundreds of police and soldiers helped remove chunks of concrete, one splattered with blood. A rescue worker said he initially heard faint cries from people trapped in the rubble.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz ordered the military to extend "all-out help" to quake-hit areas and appealed to the nation to stay calm, the information ministry said in a statement. Pakistani troops and helicopters deployed to earthquake-hit areas. Landslides were hindering rescue efforts in some areas.

Sultan, the army spokesman, said the worst-hit areas were in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, and the towns of Bagh and Rawalakot. The districts of Batagram, Balakot, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Patan in northwestern Pakistan were also badly hit, he said.

Dozens of homes, schools, mosques and government offices were damaged in those areas, and hundreds of injured people were taken to hospitals.

In the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute. Panicked people ran from their homes and offices. Tremors continued for hours afterward.

The US Geological Survey said on its website that the quake, which struck at 8.50am local time (0350 GMT), had a magnitude of 7.6 and that its epicenter was 80km (50m) north-northeast of Islamabad.

However, Qamarul Zaman, a meteorological official in Islamabad, said the magnitude was 7.5, and its center was 100km (60m) north of Islamabad.

US military spokesman Lt Col Jerry O'Hara said the quake was felt at Bagram, the main American base in Afghanistan, but he had no reports of damage at bases around the country.

"It was so strong that I saw buildings swaying. It was terrifying," said Hari Singh, a guard in an apartment complex in a suburb of India's capital, New Delhi. Hundreds of residents raced down from their apartments after their furniture started shaking.

The quake also jolted parts of Bangladesh, but no casualties or damage were reported there.